The new service also undercuts both PayPal and online merchant accounts with a 2% + $0.20 rate. AdWords users can process $10 in sales free for every $1 they spend on AdWords.

Information for sellers:

Quote:Google Checkout helps you increase sales.
And process them for free when you advertise with Google.

Every online merchant has two goals: sell more and spend less. Google Checkout is a new way to process transactions that helps you achieve both. Checkout works with Google's search advertising program, AdWords, to increase your sales and minimize your expenses throughout the online sales and marketing process.

Attract more leads.
Shoppers who see the Google Checkout badge on your AdWords ads will more easily find you when they search.

Convert more leads into sales.
A fast, secure checkout process helps persuade shoppers to buy on your site and buy more often.

Process sales for free.For every $1 you spend on AdWords, you can process $10 in sales for free. For sales that exceed this amount or if you don't use AdWords, you can process them at a low 2% and $0.20 per transaction.

Google is also offering website 'buy now' buttons for merchants without a shopping cart as well as providing integration with several ecommerce packages:

Quote:Google Checkout Developer's Center

Welcome to the Developer's Center, where you'll find all the information and resources you'll need to integrate your website with Google Checkout. Please select the most appropriate integration option for your business below.

Option one: Buy Now buttons
If you don't need shopping cart functionality, you can integrate with Google Checkout using our Buy Now buttons. Simply add our HTML code to your website to display these buttons near the products you're selling. Buyers who click these buttons will be brought to a secure Google Checkout page where they can complete their purchase.

Integration requirements: You have a working knowledge of your website's HTML

Learn more

Option two: e-commerce partners

If one of our e-commerce partners is currently providing your shopping cart application, you can integrate your shopping cart and order processing functionality with Google Checkout in minutes.

If you aren't using a shopping cart from one of our e-commerce partners, you can integrate your current shopping cart via the Google Checkout API. If you'd like, you can also integrate your order processing system with Google Checkout.

Quote:Web sites and merchants can integrate Google Checkout into their sites as an alternative payment processing method to existing checkout and credit card processing systems, said Salar Kamangar, vice president of product management at Google.

Consumers with a Google account can type their credit card and billing information into Google Checkout once and then pay for purchases thereafter with practically one click on any Web site that features the system, Kamangar said. As things now stand, he said, "If I buy five things from five different merchants I have to fill out five different forms. This process can take three, four, five minutes" for each form. Google Checkout is meant to change that...

This is not much of a competitor to eBay's PayPal, as some have predicted. Checkout is designed for serious merchants more than for individuals unloading old Star Trek snow globes on eBay. To be sure, the few merchants that are considering adding PayPal as a payment option (and that don't already have it), might divert their energies to signing up for Checkout, however there's no reason a commerce site couldn't offer both PayPal and Checkout if it desired.

Checkout is, however, a huge threat to Amazon. The biggest thing the online superstore has going for it is convenience...